Door-operating mechanism



May 29. 1928. 4 1,671,318 H. G. SCHAEFER noon OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Aug 4, 1924 ZSheets-Sheet 1 "a ll May 2. 1928.

H. G. SCHAEFER DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 4, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. r flezzz'y ,Sdmgez' A TTORNEYJ Patented May 29, 1928.

UNlTEiD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY G. soiinnrn'n, or LAKEWOOD, am, assrcrivon r0 THE GUSTAV SCHAEFER WAGON COMPANY, or CLEVELAND, onto, a ooRronA'rroN or OHIO.

nooR-orEnArING' MECHANISM.

Application filed August 4, 1924. Serial No. 729,939.

The present improvements, relating as indicated to door operating mechanism, are

designed more particularly for use in open ing and closing ace-operating pair of doors such as are found in'various types of passenger vehicles. It will be'under-stood, however, that such improvements are'equally adaptable for use in any location where the available room for swinging the doors is limited and where the operating, mechanism requires to be simple and compact as well as sturdy. e

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claim, the annexed drawings and thefollowingde scription setting forth in detail certain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the front end of a motor bus showing the exterior appear ance of'a pair of doors arranged to be operated by my improved mechanism; F ig.' 2 is a broken horizontal section taken on the plane indicated by the -line22, Fig: 1, and showing in plan a portion of the floor of the vehicle and certain parts of such operating mechanism; Fig. 3 is a -vertical section taken on the plane indicated by, the-line 33, Fig. 2, and showingthe doors inelevation with parts-of the operating mechani'sm likewise occurring in elevation and parts in section; Fig. 4 is-aplan view of the operating mechanism, similar-to that appearing in Fig. 2, but onasomewhatlarger scale and showing the parts in different positions; Fig. 5 is atop plan view of one of the doors, the associated parts ofthe operating mechanism likewise appearing in plan; Figs. 6 and 7 are horizontal sections of details taken on the planes indicated 'by the lines 66, and 77, respectively, Fig. 3;

and Figs. 8, 9 and are vertical sections of details taken on the planes indicated by the lines 88, 9-9 and -1010, respectively, Fig. 3.

As indicated above, the particular vehicle in connection with which I have chosen to illustrate my improved door operating mech anism is a motor bus, such bus being of the type wherein entrance to and exit from the body l is had by means of one or more steps 2 that lie wholly within such'body and are depressed below the level of the floor 3. In anyvehicle it is desirable, if possible,'that the doors should not project beyond the'side of the vehicle when open andI-accordingly make the step f such width that the two doors 4, 4, which are provided to close the door opening in the 'case in hand, may be accommodated transversely of such step when they are in their open positi'on.-- In such position. in other words, one door will be aligned with. one side of the stepQand the other against the other side'thereof. The *0 a such shaft being suitably ournaled' near its lower end in the floor and at its upperend in a rail or-bracket 7. The upperend 0f saidshaft is further provided with a handled operating lever 8 whereby it may be oscillated by the driver, the direction of movement of such lever for opening 'the door being towards the driver, i. e. in acou'nterclockwise direction, asshown in Figs'."2 and 4. The lower end of shaft 5 projects downwardly through the floor to approximate'ly the-plane'ofstep 2, or rather a triflebelow such plane, and is provided with aleve'r arm 9 fixedly attached to such endand connected through a'link 10 with a bar llthat is pivotally attached atone end to'the under side of the step adjacentone of the rear corners thereof.

Suitablyjournaled at its lower end-in each forward corner of the'step is avertic'al shaft 12, preferably tubular in'forin f r the sake .of lightness, the upper end of such shaft being-j ournaled in the corresponding upper corner of the door frame.- The'doo'rs4, 4,

are hung from said shafts, respectively, by means of two arms 13 and 14 that project radially from each shaft, one above and the other below the door. Each door lies between the corresponding pair of arms 13 and 14 and is pivotally attached to the outer ends of said arms so as to be swingable about a vertical median line.

Extending transversely across the upper end of the doorway is an inverted channel niember15 and each door 4 is provided on its upper. edge at a point lying beyond the point of attachment of arm 13 with a roller 16 that j is guided in such channel. In order to complete the description ofthedoor before re turning to the operating means proper, it

will be noted that as shown in Fig. 6, the

larly, the meeting vertical edges of the two doors, as shown in Fig. 7. are formed with complementary semi-circular grooves 19 in one of which is secured a piece of tubular weather stripping 2 0 that when the doors are closed effectively seals this joint. As shown in Figs. 8 and 9, a trznisverife plate 21 is secured to the front face of each door adjacent the upper edge thereof, such plate projecting far enough above the door to form a closure with the channel 15. A similar plate 22 issecured along the bottom edge of each door to form closure in co-operation with the step 2; i

Fixedly attached to the lower end of each shaft, such end projecting for the purpose a short distance beneath step 2, is a short lever arm 2e that is connected by means of a link 25 with approximately the mid-point of leverjll. The arrangement of parts is such that upon a swinging movement being imparted to said lever from the position shown in full lines in Fig. am that shown in dotted outline, the arms 24, and thus shafts 12, will be oscillated through approximately an arc of 90 degrees. The radiallyprojecting arms 13 and i l that carry the corresponding doors 4 will of course be oscillated throughjan equal angle, the actionbeing to swing the outer edge of each door inwardly along the adjacent side of the step as the front edge of the door is guidedtransversely across the door opening by reason of the engagement of roller 16in channel 15 (see Fig. 5). When the opening movement is completed, each door will be held in substantially parallel relation withthe sides of the step and will lie wholly within such step. When it is desired to close the door, the operating lever 8 is swung in a. clockwise direction With the result that lever 11 is drawn back to its initial position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, thereby oscillating the shafts 12 in a reverse direction to that just described; The operation, it will thus be seen is sim )le et ositive and while improved door operating mechanisnjl or the operation of doors in a particular place such as amotor vehicle, but they may be oh viously employed to equal advantage on street cars and in a variety ofother fields.

Furthermore, a. door operated as hereinbefore described may be hung horizontally instead of vertically, i. e. in a horizontally extending opening instead of a vertical'one. Also the particular operatingmeans for oscillating the shaft from'which the door is hung may take on' various forms, e. g pneumatic or electric means iay be employed instead. of the manually operated means shown. y

other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, chan regards the mechanism herein disclo ed, provided the means stated by the following claim or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point outann distinctly claim as my invention as being made as In mechanism ofthe" character described;

'the combination of a co-operating pair of doorsand a frame therefor; two vertical oscillatory shaftsdisposed alongside the respecpoint of attachment of the corresponding arm thereto, said projections movably engaging said guide; and means for simultaneous ly oscillating said shafts, said means includ ing a: lever arm on each shaft, a lever bar pivotally fulcrumed at one end and adapted to beswung about such axis, andlinkza; connecting said lever'arms with said bar.

Signed by me, this 1st day of August, 1924.

HENRY G? sominrnn. 

